Adam and Georgie investigate the death of a man covered in sugar…

Based on the second episode of the TV series (which featured a man killed with a stick of Blackpool rock), Guy Adams’ next adventure for Adamant and Miss Jones is very much in the mould of the ITC series that the original show was created to emulate. We’ve got two investigators somehow managing to get all the information they need, purloining articles from the authorities as they require, and some wonderful moments of derring-do.

Adams set up various elements at the end of the first story, and we just buy into the idea that the pair are private investigators who pick up cases in a casual manner. He’s got a penthouse and a swordstick; she has a Mini – together they fight crime! And it’s fun for the most part – even when Adam is facing a degree of interrogation from his own internal demons.

A large part of that fun derives from the third member of the trio who arrives in this story – William E. Simms, an actor who feels as if he’s fallen from the pages of P.G. Wodehouse, with plummy dialogue and an anecdote for all occasions. Adams gave Blake Ritson some tongue twisting dialogue in the opener; he provides Simms with similar here – and plays the part himself with great aplomb. He and Milly Thomas’ Georgie have a side investigation going on as Adam walks straight into danger, and you’re never in any doubt who the senior member of that partnership is.

Daisy Ashford and Glen McCready are the villains of the piece on this occasion, and Ashford in particular relishes the grand guignol of the situation – you may never want to eat a stick of rock again after hearing one particular scene. Director Nick Briggs plays up to the inherent incongruities of the set up, with Benji Clifford’s sound design once again creating an immersive atmosphere.

Verdict: A fun adventure that cements our central trio. 9/10

Paul Simpson

Click here to order Adam Adamant Lives! volume 1 from Big Finish